Nik Nazmi announces bid for PKR Youth chief post

(MM) – Touting reform, PKR’s Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad today confirmed his rumoured challenge for the presidency of party’s Youth wing to replace outgoing chief Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin.

Unveiling “multiracial line-up” in tandem with their tagline “AMK for Malaysia”, the Deputy Speaker of the Selangor legislative assembly said he made the decision to contest after consulting Youth members nationwide. AMK is the Malay initials for PKR Youth.

“As the party gathers momentum, we need to be prepared to face future challenges and we cannot take the trust of the people for granted. This is the beginning,” he said at a press conference in the Kuala Lumpur Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall.

The challenge, said Nik Nazmi, would be to offer qualified leadership and dynamic thinking.

Nik Nazmi, 32, is latest to throw in his hat in the ring, making it a three-corner tussle for the coveted position.

The Seri Setia assemblyman will take on current incumbent Youth vice chief Mohd Nazree Yunus, 30, and Batu Caves assemblyman Amirudin Shari, 32, who was the first to make public his interest for the post last month.

Unlike Amirudin and Nik Nazmi, Mohd Nazree is the only one who has served in the wing, holding the current post since 2010.

Joining Nik Nazmi as his running mates are Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang, who is contesting for the deputy Youth post, and Nor Hizwan Ahmad, R. Sri Sanjeevan and Carol P. Malawai, who are gunning for the three vice-chief spots.

Semambu assemblyman Lee Chean Chung and Bakar Arang assemblyman Simon Ooi make up two of 10 executive council hopefuls in Nik Nazmi’s team.

Speaking to The Malay Mail Online, Sanjeevan, the chairman of anti-crime group MyWatch, said their team is offering the wing a diverse range of leaders.

“We need to reform the Youth wing to become more prominent. We have to focus on entrenching the support for our young leaders.

“The fact of the matter is we are not as established as our political opponents in Umno Youth,” said Sanjeevan.

The contest between the young leaders is expected to intensify as more than half the current leadership is above the 35-year-old age limit.

Under Shamsul, the wing sought to have the age restriction lifted for the wing’s leaders but it was rejected at the party’s special congress held last November.

While PKR has yet to make an official announcement of party polls, it is expected that nominations will be held in March followed by elections for the respective positions in April.

PKR polls were postponed from October last year, to enable the party to focus on Election 2013.